Are Windows Phones Still Made

Posey's Tips & Tricks

Why Windows Telephone Is Dead, Simply Not Completely Gone

Don't call it a comeback (considering that's not likely). Just equally Brien explains, there are iii ways that today'due south smartphone market leaves the door open up for Microsoft to bring Windows back to smartphones.

Over the by few years, I have occasionally referred to myself as the world'due south last Windows Phone holdout. Oddly, this isn't the literal truth, because I saw several people at Microsoft Ignite last yr who were using Windows Phones.

In any case, in that location aren't many Windows Phone users left. Only is Windows Phone about to brand a comeback?

Before I get too far into this, here is a spoiler: To the best of my knowledge, Microsoft is non working on a next-generation Windows Telephone. That ship has sailed. Microsoft realized that it simply could not capture a sufficient enough portion of the smartphone market to justify continuing with its Windows Phone efforts.

So why am I writing this column if there are no plans to resurrect Windows Telephone from extinction?

Recently, I have been noticing three different trends in the mobile device space. None of these trends mean much by themselves, only collectively, they hint at a future in which nosotros might be running Windows 10 on our phones.

iOS, Android Falter in Public Opinion
The first of these trends is the growing dissatisfaction with iOS and Android. Correct now, these are the but two widely available smartphone platforms. Over the past year, there seems to be an increasing dissatisfaction with both. I don't take whatever quantifiable statistics to support this observation, simply I accept seen enough of anecdotal bear witness. Only practice a quick Spider web search on iOS or Android complaints. You will find allegations of everything from toll fixing to spying.

Maybe some of these allegations are true or peradventure they aren't -- I accept no idea. I don't even own one of these devices. In some ways, though, information technology really doesn't matter if the things that iOS and Android are existence accused of are true or not. The only thing that matters (at least from the standpoint of this column) is that there is a segment of the population that seems to be very unhappy with the smartphone options that are available today. This underscores the idea that in that location may be room for a third player to come into the market.

Market place for Linux Phones Emerges
The second trend that has caught my attention lately is the development of Linux phones. In some ways, this trend is nothing new. Hobbyists and Linux enthusiasts have been experimenting with running lightweight Linux distributions on smartphones for years.

The matter that has changed is that those who wish to run Linux on a smartphone no longer have to take the do-it-yourself arroyo. A company named Pine64 is now selling the PinePhone, a fully functional Linux phone that y'all tin can purchase today. This $149.99 telephone is being marketed toward Linux enthusiasts, those for whom security is an absolute must, and people who simply accept had enough of iOS and Android.

I haven't nevertheless had the opportunity to try out the PinePhone for myself (although I program to), so I can't tell you how well it works. Regardless, I call up information technology'southward slap-up that someone has taken the initiative to bring a Linux telephone to marketplace.

Microsoft Isn't Letting Upwardly on ARM
The third tendency that I have observed is that Microsoft has been investing considerable resources into making Windows x run on ARM devices (example in indicate: the Surface Pro X). The company has even gone then far as to create an emulator that will let ARM-based Windows x devices to run x86 applications.

When you examine these three trends together, you run across dissatisfaction with existing smartphone platforms, an alternative smartphone operating organisation (Linux) being brought to market, and Microsoft creating a version of Windows 10 that is designed to run on mobile devices that are equipped with ARM processors.

Regardless, fifty-fifty bringing these trends together does non signal the triumphant return of Windows Telephone. As I said earlier, Microsoft hasn't said annihilation about edifice a Windows 10 phone. In all honesty, I'thousand non sure that Microsoft would even have whatever involvement in such a projection.

Somewhat surprisingly, though, in that location is a group of contained developers who take been hard at work on making Windows 10 run on a smartphone. While this project does not seem to be officially sanctioned past the folks in Redmond, I wouldn't be surprised to come across those responsible for the project eventually strike a bargain with Microsoft to license Windows ten for utilize on a smartphone.

About the Author

Brien Posey is a 20-time Microsoft MVP with decades of IT experience. As a freelance writer, Posey has written thousands of articles and contributed to several dozen books on a broad variety of IT topics. Prior to going freelance, Posey was a CIO for a national chain of hospitals and wellness care facilities. He has besides served equally a network administrator for some of the land'southward largest insurance companies and for the Department of Defense at Fort Knox. In add-on to his continued piece of work in It, Posey has spent the concluding several years actively preparation as a commercial scientist-astronaut candidate in grooming to fly on a mission to written report polar mesospheric clouds from space. You tin follow his spaceflight training on his Spider web site.

Are Windows Phones Still Made,

Source: https://redmondmag.com/articles/2020/07/07/windows-phone-opportunity.aspx

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